Our Advisory Group

The Institute for Patient-Centered Design utilizes the expertise of our advisory committee members. These individuals represent patients, healthcare professionals and design professionals, all working to improve the quality of the healthcare environment.

Mr. Jones has a stellar record for producing excellent health facility projects. With over 20 years of leadership experience in hospital facility design and construction, he currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Campus Transformation at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland Ohio.

Angela Mazzi, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, NCARBMedical Planner

Profession: Architecture

Professional License: Registered Architect, AZ and OH

Certifications/Association:American Institute of Architects, American College of Healthcare Architects, Evidence Based Design Accreditation & Certification, National Council of Architecture Registration Boards

Education:Bachelor of Architecture Carnegie Mellon UniversityMaster of Architecture University of Arizona

Profile:Angela's work as a Medical Planner at GBBN Architects focuses on enhancing quality of life for patients, families and staff through the built environment. She specializes in developing common goals for moving forward with innovative design solutions to create supportive and regenerative healthcare spaces. Angela advocates leading through listening: working with clients to align project goals with their mission and business goals, then developing a research, program and planning strategy that can be followed through design, construction and post-occupancy. She also writes about design and healthcare issues at her blog The Patron Saint of Architecture.

LaShawna Bowden Heflin, RN, BSN

Education:Bachelor of Science in NursingBachelor of Science in Health Care Management

Profile:LaShawna Heflin is a Registered Nurse currently caring for labor and delivery patients in Clarksville, TN. She has ten years of nursing experience. In addition to extensive experience caring for premature and terminally ill neonates in Level III Neonatal Intensive Care units, she has experience caring for pediatric, postpartum, and OB-GYN surgical patients.

Ms. Heflin is the co-founder of Trinity Staffing Resources, LLC (TSR), a federal and commercial contractor that provides medical and administrative professionals to all areas of the government and commercial hospitals and other entities. Trinity Staffing Resources, LLC was founded in April 2009. Prior to co-founding TSR, Ms. Heflin practiced nursing in various locations throughout the United States. She also volunteers with numerous military units and speaks at various engagements on bone marrow disorders.

She is married to her high school sweetheart, Major Raphael Heflin, and they have one child

Megan Elizabeth Denham, MAEd; Research Faculty

Profession: Academic Research

Profile:

Megan E. Denham is Research Faculty with the
College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta,
Georgia. Her research focuses on evidence-based design to improve design of
healthcare facilities, reduce the risk of healthcare acquired infections
through the environment, and promote patient and family centered care. Megan’s mission is to create a system of care in which
patients are not expected to check their dignity at the door, and hospitals are
a place to heal, not harm.

Vicki J. Vickers, Project Specialist/Designer

Profession: Interior DesignAssociation: ASID, IIDA Associate

Education:Bachelor of Art, Interior Design

Profile: Vicki Vickers is a project designer for University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Hospital System.

Tracey J. Friley, AIA, NOMA, EDAC, LEED AP

Architect

Profile:Tracey is an Architect with The Haskell Company in Florida. She has over 10 years of experience in the healthcare industry, in both new construction and renovation projects. Tracey received EDAC accreditation in March 2013 and she excited to learn more about the EBD approach and its associated research opportunities.

Profile:Jon Paul Bacariza is the leader for the Tampa office of HKS. He is a founding board member of the South Florida chapter of the USGBC, he served as a board member of the Societa Dante Alighieri in Miami and recently joined the Institute's Patient Centered Design Advisory Committee.

He has practiced healthcare architecture throughout the south east and has worked for some of the most prominent clients in the southeastern market like Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Veterans Affairs, Georgia Regent University, UAB, University of Miami, USACE and Memorial Regional. Mr. Bacariza is certified by the American College of Healthcare Architects. Jon Paul received his Bachelors of Architecture from Cornell University where he was the president of the architecture student association, a member of Cornell Tradition and recipient of the Eidlitz traveling fellowship.

Kiana Ayers, RNRegistered Nurse

Profile:Kiana Ayers is the lead educator for Powerful Petals; a community based breastfeeding education program, providing support and education for moms in the community and the workplace to initiate and continue breastfeeding for as long as mother and baby desire. The goal of this program is to increase awareness, increase access to support and provide a warm, supportive environment for mothers while breastfeeding.

Ched and Nannette SalasekPatient & Family Advocates

Profile:Nannette Salasek became a volunteer for Raising Special Kids in 2004 after experiencing the amazing help of Parent to Parent support with her daughter that was born with Spina Bifida. Nannette now works at Raising Special Kids helping to recruit and train parent volunteers, coordinate Parent to Parent Connections, and train Medical Residents on the principles of Family Centered Care and how to best care for families that have children with special health care needs. She recognizes the great value of working with a staff made up of parents that know firsthand the amazing journey of raising a child with special needs. In addition to her work at Raising Special Kids, Nannette also serves on the Family Advisory Council at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.Nannette and her husband, Ched, have 6 beautiful children. After having two healthy children, their third child was born with Spina Bifida. She is a happy and loving young girl who bravely takes on the many challenges of living with Spina Bifida. Their next daughter would later be diagnosed with ADHD and Sensory Integration Issues. Just when they thought they had seen it all, their youngest daughter was born with Intestinal Mal Rotation that required emergency surgery and also produced feeding issues. Recently, their typically healthy daughter became very ill after a fight with Pneumonia and suffered severe weight loss. She was hospitalized at Phoenix Children's Hospital, where the doctors quickly diagnosed a very rare secondary condition called Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome. She received supplemental nutrition through an Ng tube for several months and has made a successful recovery. Nannette is passionate about providing support to families, and letting them know they are not alone in the journey of advocacy for their children with special needs.

George C. SmithSenior Architectural Project Manager

Profession: Healthcare Project ManagementEducation:BS Urban Planning, Georgia State UniversityGraduate course work in the School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology

Profile:George is a healthcare facilities architectural and construction project manager representing healthcare providers, caregivers, patients, and family members in projects in hospital, clinical, and support settings since beginning his career with Emory Healthcare (then Emory University Hospital), in 1988. With the Grady Health System, since 2000, he has developed and implemented projects ranging from campus master planning to facility signage and wayfinding, most recently completing the design oversight for the nationally recognized Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center, expansion of the Level 1 Trauma Center, relocation of neighborhood health centers to state of the art facilities, and the historic refurbishment of the Phillip Shutze designed Goddard Memorial Chapel.

Between his seven years with Emory and joining the Grady team, he performed consulting work for WellStar Health System, also in Atlanta, overseeing the expansion of the Cobb Hospital ICU, an MRI addition, and renovations to improve patient admissions. He also served as the Design and Construction Manager for Kaiser Permanente’s Southeast Region, expanding the HMO’s primary care facilities in metro Atlanta.

George holds a BS in Urban Planning from Georgia State University and has been an invited speaker at a national healthcare symposium sponsored by Architecture Magazine, addressing renovation as a part of the facility master planning process.